Skip to main content

Introducing the Internet of Toys

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Internet of Toys

Part of the book series: Studies in Childhood and Youth ((SCY))

Abstract

This introduction aims to contextualise the Internet of Toys (IoToys) within the tradition of media and communications, set out the theoretical foundations for this volume and explore the notions of mediatization, datafication and robotification. First, it makes the argument that IoToys should be conceived of as media that are triply articulated in children’s everyday lives. Their network connectivity and sensor-based functions provide the basis for the mediatization and datafication of children’s lives. Second, it analyses IoToys as toys that enable forms of hybrid play and embedded play and as social robots that are automated in such a way that they elicit social responses from or interaction with children. Finally, it provides a summary of the chapters of the book.

In accordance with the Italian academic convention, we specify that while the general structure and the conceptual framework of the chapter were designed by the two authors jointly, Giovanna Mascheroni specifically wrote the following sections: The Internet of Toys as Media and The Internet of Toys and the Datafication of Everyday Life; Donell Holloway wrote the sections The Internet of Toys as Toys and The Internet of Toys as Social Robots.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barassi, V. (2017). BabyVeillance? Expecting parents, online surveillance and the cultural specificity of pregnancy apps. Social Media + Society, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/205630511770718.

  • Belpaeme, T., Baxter, P., De Greeff, J., Kennedy, J., Read, R., Looije, R., … Zelati, M. C. (2013). Child-robot interaction: Perspectives and challenges. Paper presented at the International Conference on Social Robotics.

    Google Scholar 

  • boyd, d., & Crawford, K. (2012). Critical questions for big data. Information, Communication & Society, 15(5), 662–679.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breazeal, C. (2003). Toward sociable robots. Robotics and Autonomous Systems,42(3–4), 167–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breazeal, C., Harris, P. L., DeSteno, D., Kory Westlund, J. M., Dickens, L., & Jeong, S. (2016). Young children treat robots as informants. Topics in Cognitive Science,8(2), 481–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bunz, M., & Meikle, G. (2018). The internet of things. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaudron, S., Di Gioia, R., Gemo, M., Holloway, D., Marsh, J., Mascheroni, G., … Yamada-Rice, D. (2017). Kaleidoscope on the internet of toys—Safety, security, privacy and societal insights. Ispra: Joint Research Centre. Retrieved from http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC105061/jrc105061_final_online.pdf.

  • Connected Toys. (n.d.). Trends. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/tools/future/trends/connectedtoys.

  • Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2017). The mediated construction of reality. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulton, P. (2015). Playful and gameful design for the internet of things. In A. Niholt (Ed.), More playful user interfaces (pp. 151–173). Singapore: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, K., & Schultz, J. (2014). Big data and due process: Toward a framework to redress predictive privacy harms. Boston College Law Review,55(1), 93–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cukier, K. N., & Mayer-Schoenberger, V. (2013). The rise of big data how it’s changing the way we think about the world. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved February 7, 2018, from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2013–04-03/rise-big-data.

  • Daily, S. B., James, M. T., Cherry, D., Porter, J. J., Darnell, S. S., Isaac, J., & Roy, T. (2017). Affective computing: Historical foundations, current applications, and future trends. In M. Jeon (Ed.), Emotions and affect in human factors and human–computer interaction (pp. 213–231). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demir, K. A., Caymaz, E., & Elci, M. (2017). Issues in integrating robots into organizations. Paper presented at the The 12th International Scientific Conference “Defence Resources Management in the 21st Century”, Brazov.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duffy, B. (2004). Robots social embodiment in autonomous mobile robotics. International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems,1(3), 17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, M. (2015). Rise of the robots: Technology and the threat of a jobless future. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franceschi-Bicchierai, L. (2017, February 27). Internet of things teddy bear leaked 2 million parent and kids message recordings. Motherboard. Retrieved December 22, 2017, from https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pgwean/internet-of-things-teddy-bear-leaked-2-million-parent-and-kids-message-recordings.

  • Haddon, L., & Silverstone, R. (2000). Information and communication technologies and everyday life: Individual and social dimensions. In K. Ducatel, J. Webster, & W. Herrman (Eds.), The information society in Europe: Work and life in an age of globalization (pp. 233–258). Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann, M. (2006). The triple articulation of ICTs. Media as technological objects, symbolic environments and individual texts. In T. Berker, M. Hartmann, Y. Punie, & K. Ward (Eds.), Domestication of media and technology (pp. 80–102). Berkshire: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinske, S., Langheinrich, M., & Lampe, M. (2008, February 25–27). Towards guidelines for designing augmented toy environments. In Proceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. Cape Town, South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holloway, D. (in press a). Children’s digital lives: The parent factor. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holloway, D. (in press b). The Internet of Toys and Things (IoTTs) for children: Surveillance capitalism and children’s data. Media International Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holloway, D., & Green, L. (2016). The internet of toys. Communication Research and Practice,2(4), 506–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ihamäki, P., Pori, S., & Heljakka, K. (2018, January 10–12). Smart, skilled and connected in the 21st century: Educational promises of the Internet of Toys (IoToys). Paper presented at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, P. H., Jr., Kanda, T., Ishiguro, H., Freier, N. G., Severson, R. L., Gill, B. T., … Shen, S. (2012). “Robovie, you’ll have to go into the closet now”: Children’s social and moral relationships with a humanoid robot. Developmental Psychology,48(2), 303–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leaver, T. (2017). Intimate surveillance: Normalizing parental monitoring and mediation of infants online. Social Media + Society, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117707192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lievrouw, L. A., & Livingstone, S. (2006). Introduction to the first edition (2002): The social shaping and consequences of ICTs. In L. A. Lievrouw & S. Livingstone (Eds.), Handbook of new media (pp. 15–32). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, S. (2007). On the material and the symbolic: Silverstone’s double articulation of research traditions in new media studies. New Media & Society,9(1), 16–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyon, D. (2017). Surveillance culture: Engagement, exposure, and ethics in digital modernity. International Journal of Communication,11, 824–842.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, J. (2017). The internet of toys: A posthuman and multimodal analysis of connected play. Teachers College Record, 119(15). Retrieved December 20, 2017, from http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/113557/.

  • Marsh, J., Mascheroni, G., Carrington, V., Árnadóttir, H., Brito, R., Dias, P., … Trueltzsch-Wijnen, C. (2018). The online and offline digital literacy practices of young children: A review of the literature. Sheffield: COST Action IS1410 DigiLitEY. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from http://digilitey.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/WG4-LR-jan-2017.pdf.

  • McReynolds, E., Hubbard, S., Lau, T., Saraf, A., Cakmak, M., & Roesner, F. (2017, May 6–11). Toys that listen: A study of parents, children, and internet-connected toys. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 5197–5207). Denver, Colorado. Retrieved from https://www.franziroesner.com/pdf/ToysThatListen-CHI2017.pdf.

  • Paradeda, R., Ferreira, M. J., Martinho, C., Dias, J., & Paiva, A. (2016). A persuasive storyteller robot: Pilot study. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from https://r4l.epfl.ch/files/content/sites/r4l/files/proceedings_hri2017/R4L_HRI_2017_paper_6.pdf.

  • Payne, M. T., & Steirer, G. (2014). Redesigning game industries studies. Creative Industries Journal,7(1), 67–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogoff, B. (2008). Observing sociocultural activity on three planes: Participatory appropriation, guided participation, and apprenticeship. In K. Hall, P. Murphy, & J. Solet (Eds.), Pedagogy and practice: Culture and identities (pp. 58–74). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruis, E. (2016). The New Ludic City: From hybrid play towards embedded play within urban spaces. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305367984_The_New_Ludic_City_From_hybrid_play_towards_embedded_play_within_urban_spaces.

  • Serholt, S. (2017). Child-robot interaction in education. Ph.D., University of Gothenburg, Gottenburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverstone, R. (1994). Television and everyday life. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverstone, R., Hirsch, E., & Morley, D. (1992). Information and communication technologies and the moral economy of the household. In R. Silverstone & E. Hirsch (Eds.), Consuming technologies: Media and information in domestic space (pp. 13–28). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soltano, E. (2008). How to evaluate what students have learned about cognition. AP® Psychology, 25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Dijck, J. (2014). Datafication, dataism and dataveillance: Big data between scientific paradigm and ideology. Surveillance and Society,12(2), 197–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuboff, S. (2015). Big other: Surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an information civilization. Journal of Information Technology,30(1), 75–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanna Mascheroni .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Mascheroni, G., Holloway, D. (2019). Introducing the Internet of Toys. In: Mascheroni, G., Holloway, D. (eds) The Internet of Toys. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10898-4_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10898-4_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-10897-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-10898-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics